UPPER LAKE >> The unification of Upper Lake high and Upper Lake elementary school districts is on the table once again, and with support to pursue the option from both boards, the districts are well on their way to collecting and analyzing the financial consequences of the merge.
Unification of the two districts, which are separated only by a street, has been discussed on and off for approximately 20 years, according to County Superintendent of Schools Wally Holbrook, but this is the farthest the districts have gotten in discussions.
While the state provides nine criteria districts must address before submitting an application for unification, the fact that students of the elementary, middle and high schools already graduate into each other makes for little impact on the Upper Lake community or schools. The criteria that must be researched, however, involve the financial aspects of unification.
“The public needs to understand that there”s not much that”s going to change if we unify,” high school Superintendent Pat Iaccino said. “Nothing — outside a new name, having one supervisor instead of two, and some positions being phased out — is going to really change.”
Classified jobs, positions from janitors to secretaries, are protected for two years at salary under state law. Those would be the jobs that the districts may find to be redundant if agreement is reached.
Certified, or teaching, staff are not protected, but Iaccino said there would be no change in the districts” teaching staff since the classrooms would essentially be the same.
The unification would result in a seamless, kindergarten through twelfth grade education system, and, Iaccino believes, will mean the district will be able to spend more money in the classrooms.
The fiscal impact of the merger, however, is what the superintendents and boards are not able to measure yet. Beginning this month, The Upper Lake Unification Committee — made up of Upper Lake Elementary, Upper Lake High and County superintendents and established mid-September — organized subcommittees of both boards and staff members to gather data, including financial sets.
It is from these numbers the districts will most likely draw their decision to unify or not to unify.
“Let”s say this is going to cost us millions to do, that”s a decision the board will have to make. I don”t think it”s going to be that drastic financially; but the two boards will have to decide if it”s better to tighten our belts a little bit for a couple of years until it gets better,” Iaccino said.
Under the new, statewide Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), Holbrook said the fiscal impact may be easier to analyze, but its effects on the proposed district are yet to be determined.
Iaccino said the committee is hoping to have all the financial information collected by January. An analysis of the data is projected to be presented to the boards for discussion in May. Public hearing, with dates to be determined, will also be scheduled and the superintendents are eager to hear the public”s input.
“It”s just so important that the public come to the meetings,” Upper Lake Elementary School District Superintendent Valerie Gardner said. “Making this decision puts a lot of responsibility on the two boards and I”m hoping parents will come give their input. Together we”ll think of everything and we”ll have better ideas if we do it together.”
Any of the regular board meetings are open to the public as well, and the unification will be discussed more as the data comes in.
In June, the school boards will put it to the vote. If one or both of the districts vote against it, the public can still rally for signatures and push the application forward, but given the boards” history of tossing the idea around and putting it back down, it”s unlikely that would happen.
Moving forward, the Lake County Office of Education Board would review the results of the study and would decide whether to give a recommendation for the state application.
Holbrook said the role of the county Office of Education is to help facilitate the process of analyzing the criteria, but personally thinks the process in it of itself is healthy for the districts as they look at their options and understand how to provide the best quality of education in their community.
Gardner said the most common response she hears from the public is in the form of a question: “why are there two districts in the first place?” But it”s not as simple as signing a paper and it will have some affect on both sites, she explained.
One matter that may complicate the decision is the difference in unions representing each district”s employees. The elementary school has two unions while the high school has one and contracts will have to be negotiated.
But above all, the three superintendents stress that they want to make the best decision for the students.
Iaccino said there”s two reasons to unify: academic or fiscal.
“Academically, unification would be better for the students because we”d have more common planning time for teachers and one curriculum, which means more conversation about what”s being taught at each grade level,” Iaccino said.
Dropping the county”s number of districts from seven to six would have some impact on the county as it receives $110,00 per district from the state, but the county-level impact isn”t considered in evaluating the criteria and Holbrook remains focused on the educational aspects of the unification.
“There”s some education benefits for the county in that the articulation of the curriculum and assessment would be streamlined for both districts,” Holbrook said.
Meanwhile, Lucerne Elementary has declined to be a part of the proposed unified district. While its superintendent, Mike Brown, could not be reached by press time, Iaccino and Gardner believe the decision was made because the school has a town, instead of a street, separating it from Upper Lake schools and the cultural impact would be greater. Lucerne Elementary has the option of joining the district at another point in time, though.
For Upper Lake, the decision hangs on the analysis of the study.
